The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts has fallen below the $3.50 mark for the first time since April.

AAA Southern New England reported on Monday that the average price for regular, self-serve gas fell 8 cents a gallon in the past week to $3.48. That price is 17 cents below the national average. It’s still well above the state’s average one year ago of $2.68 a gallon.

Gas prices on Monday varied widely in Massachusetts, with prices ranging from $3.30 to $3.90 a gallon for regular, self-serve gas.

State to get $4M in drug settlements

The state of Massachusetts will rack up more than $4 million from settlements in two drug-related cases involving investigators in several states.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley said the state will get more than $3.5 million from a multistate settlement with Walgreen Co., the parent company of the Walgreens chain. The state’s share of the settlement will go to the state’s Medicaid program. In the Walgreen case, investigators had found that Walgreen received excessive Medicaid payments for prescription drugs given to people who had Medicaid and private insurance coverage.

Coakley’s office also said the state will receive $700,000 from a settlement with prescription drug manufacturer Cephalon Inc. arising from the improper marketing of its painkiller Actiq, a raspberry-flavored lozenge that contains a powerful narcotic.

Waltham’s CMGI now named ModusLink

WALTHAM – Former Internet development company CMGI is finally shedding its old name in favor of the brand of its primary business.

The Waltham company said on Monday that it has renamed itself ModusLink Global Solutions. Its stock will trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol MLNK, replacing the CMGI ticker symbol.

CMGI’s acquisition in 2004 of Modus Media accelerated the company’s evolution from a dot-com incubator into a provider of supply chain services.

MassHousing sets record in home loans

BOSTON – MassHousing said it provided a record amount of affordable home loans during its 2008 fiscal year by distributing $466.4 million in loans, up from a previous record of $425 million set in 2007.

Carbon credit money to help with winter heating costs

Gov. Deval Patrick plans to use the $13.3 million that Massachusetts earned from selling greenhouse gas emissions allowances to help individuals and local officials deal with soaring energy costs this winter.

Massachusetts was among several Northeast states that sold the right to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere last week during the nation’s first-of-its-kind auction of pollution credits. In total, the cap-and-trade greenhouse gas auction raised $38.5 million. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative requires all fossil fuel-burning power plants in a 10-state region to buy credits to cover the carbon dioxide they emit